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Earth Day 2023

Earth Day 2023 – Invest in our Planet

This year for Earth Day we decided that we would invest in our planet using clean and safe energy:

# by investing in some solar lamps for each class to use on the day

# by collecting monies to donate to Solar Aid to help families in need

Through this participation we were using clean energy and giving the tools for others to do the same.

Families have no choice but to rely on poor alternatives such as homemade torches, candles and kerosene lamps.

These dangerous devices are imperilling health, impairing education, wasting household income and emitting astonishingly high amounts of carbon into the atmosphere.

Worst of all, families have to risk their lives every single night with open flames. It doesn’t have to be like this.

The whole school participated in Earth day – here are just a few of the activities we had fun experiencing:

Thank you for your generous gift. Through donations of £35 from pupils and staff along with a donation of £10 from the Fairtrade Tuck Shop we are able to give £45 to Solar Aid.

Your support means we can reach remote villages bringing solar to places where no one else goes.

Without your help, these communities would remain in the dark with only candles or kerosene lamps for light. Your donation will make this a problem of the past from the moment they switch on a solar light.

When the sun goes down at 6pm in sub-Saharan Africa, 590 million people are living in darkness. They have no access to electricity. There is no switch on the wall to turn on the light. This is energy poverty.

Impact calculator

A donation of  £45 will result in…

3 solar lights reaching 16 people, with 12 currently using dangerous, toxic and poor sources of light.
This will lead to total savings of $379 a year, with 13 people feeling safer at home and 3 more children studying after dark.

Well Done Beatlie!

December in Glendevon

 

What a  busy term we have had in Glendevon! The children have firstly enjoyed cross class, mixing with other children around the school in outdoor activities. They were involved in singing, stories, circle games, litter picking or sensory play every week.

Then we were hard working with crafting Christmas things and it was lovely to see the whole class actively involved in this. We also explored different types of winter messy play and lots of practicing and preparation for the Christmas show….which of course was fab!  All the children coped so well with this. Well done Glendevon children!!

Merry Christmas everyone and a Happy New Year!!!

Autumn Term Music in Beatlie

In Music this term, we had fun once more sharing and playing music together with our friends. 

One of the focus points across the school has been making choices in music. In Ochiltree and Duntarvie the children have been exploring genre, from disco to indie and rock, with more to come after the holidays. In mixed groups doing ASDAN and NQs, they selected from a range of music on switches and then chose instruments to play along with the selection, including drums and electric guitars. It was surprising to find out who are the secret rock and rollers in the classes!

In Primary and Lammermuir, we have been choosing from a range of nursery rhymes and instruments. The Pentland children had great fun deciding whether songs should be loud, quiet, fast and slow. At Halloween The Hairy Scary Castle  song made a return, with all the spooky sounds inside, which the children always enjoy.

Across the school we continue to have opportunities for individuals to have short Music as Therapy sessions that allows an opportunity to focus on the particular needs of some of the children.  While this is different from Music Therapy with Aisling, we do confer and ideas overlap. Importantly, it is an opportunity for the children to express themselves through music away from distractions.

We ended the term with music for the Christmas show, quite a change after the last few years, with lots of creative ideas. Next year, we will continue to have fun with new and familiar songs alike, and also take time to use music for wellbeing and to celebrate Scotland as we head to Burns Night.

Lammermuir – Term 1

Lammermuir have had a busy time since starting back in August.  We have welcomed two new pupils to our class.  We have been exploring different textures for messy play – some weeks we have even made our own mixtures during cooking groups and then played with it during messy play.  We were lucky to have a visit from Calum and his Cool Creatures – our learners loved feeling all the different animals that came to visit.  One individual has been working on mark making skills and has been independently drawing on the easel and on paper when they have their chair tray on.  Another has been communicating likes and dislikes through their facial expressions and body language, they are very good at showing us the things they enjoy as their whole face lights up!  Our newest learner just started with us at the end of the term, they are settling in really well and we are looking forward to getting to know them better.  So far they have shown us that they enjoy singing counting songs and exploring our hat bag.

 

World Smile Day 2022

A smile is never far away in Beatlie so celebrating World Smile Day was no challenge at all! The theme of World Smile Day is to ‘do an act of kindness, help make someone smile’, things we do every single day. We did however take part in some additional smiley activities which you can see in the following photos and which we hope will make you smile too. We enjoyed going on a Smile Hunt around school to find the hidden giant smiley faces and were on the lookout for lots of acts of kindness such as sharing, helping others and making someone laugh in our Classroom Scavenger Hunt. We also enjoyed ‘gifting’ lots of smiles to people who made us smile or who we wanted to make smile. We all worked together to create our giant Beatlie smiley which we hope you will love!!

Busy first term in Glendevon

The children have settled into school life well, adjusting to their new classroom, peers and teachers fine.

This term we have been learning about day and night, exploring that the moon comes out at night and the sun comes out in the day. We have also investigated what animals that come out in the night and day. The children loved playing a sleeping game and waking each other up with a rooster sound, lots of laughing during this!

We have also been enjoying walks in the community, investigating the changes in seasons.

We will look forward to next term-being busy with autumn, fireworks and winter themed activities. Enjoy your October holidays!